Countdown
by TheFictionalMe
Summary: Mike Ross was sentenced to two years in prison. He doesn't even make it two weeks. Set between Season 6 episode 1 & 2. Potential spoilers! Whump/Angst.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey there! Well, I have watched Suits on and off since it started, and what can I say...Season 5 _killed_ me! Now that Season 6 is here, I am finally feeling inspired to attempt a fic in this fandom. Fair warning, I tend to write LOTS of hurt/comfort and angst, usually with a happy ending?...we'll see! This will probably be a two-to-three shot, maybe longer if I find more motivation. This is set after ep 1 but before ep 2, and is based off of the promo where it looks like Mike is about to get shanked by Frank...and I just couldn't get that image out of my head! Thus, this fic was born. **

**(Also, to any of my Grimm readers...sorry I have gotten your messages and I am still searching for my muse to continue...but THANKS so much for all your support!)**

 **Anyways, please enjoy, and let me know if I should continue (or not).**

 **Happy reading!**

 **Fictional**

* * *

"Mike..." Harvey began, opening and closing his mouth uselessly, for the first time in his entire life at a complete loss for words. He shifted in the hard plastic chair, haphazardly running a hand down his face as he looked back at Mike. Several long moments of silence passed between them, feeling like an eternity, and Harvey waited with baited breath, half-hoping that Mike would speak to him, just reply in some way. Hell, even if Mike screamed at him right now, and told him he hated him, blamed him for going to prison and ruining his life, it would be better than this silent treatment. With the sinking realization that he really wasn't going to get a response, Harvey finally let out a deep sigh, shaking his head slowly in dejection.

"Damn it Mike...I'm sorry."

Only the steady beeping of the ventilator currently keeping Mike alive answered him.

* * *

Mike didn't even make it through his first night in prison before he realized he was in trouble. More trouble than simply just going to prison and serving his time. Sure, he had no misconceptions that prison would be tough, _dangerous_ even, but he hadn't intended to make an enemy on his first night there.

Frank Gallo hated Harvey for putting him away, and now Mike was a convenient target for Frank to get his long-awaited revenge that he had had plenty of time to contemplate over for the past thirteen years.

No, his counselor was wrong: this was no prison movie.

It was much worse.

Not only was he now in even more danger than he had expected once going behind bars, but now Harvey would be vulnerable if Frank came after him as leverage, and also because of his naïveté the first night, so easily trusting the wrong person...Rachel was now in jeopardy too because he had inadvertently given that monster her phone number.

When would he stop hurting the people he loved?

It was three days before Mike was granted access to a collect call, and he immediately contacted Harvey, knowing he had to warn him about Frank, and warn Rachel that it wasn't him behind those texts. Of course, he also wanted Harvey to downplay the danger he was in to Rachel, because she was already worried enough about him, he _knew_ that, and he didn't want to screw up her life anymore than he already had.

His call was accepted immediately, and Mike felt a slight surge of relief that even with the current hell he was in, Harvey was still there when he needed him, one of the few constants he could hold onto now that his life was in shambles. A second later, Harvey's voice came over the line.

" _Mike_ ," he said simply, but the way he said his name was laced with both concern and relief.

"Harvey," Mike replied, trying to keep his voice calm before he recounted everything to Harvey about his run-in with Frank Gallo. "We have a problem."

* * *

Harvey took a deep breath as he stopped outside the door to the visitation room where Mike was waiting for him. For possibly the first time that he could recently remember, panic attacks be damned, he was _afraid_.

Afraid for Mike's life. He had foolishly convinced himself that Mike would be ok in Danbury, that the kid was tough enough, and thanks to their fight the night before Mike went away, he knew that he could pack a punch if he needed to. He certainly wasn't weak, and God knows he knew how smart Mike was, that he would find a way to survive in there with that goddamn genius mind of his.

But that was all before Frank Gallo was in the picture. Now Mike was in trouble, _real_ trouble, and it was all because of him.

Harvey swallowed thickly, pushing down the guilt and fear threatening to send him into another panic attack, and swung open the heavy door.

One week behind bars and Mike already looked rough. Harvey steeled himself as he took a seat across the hard metal table from his "client"...the only way he was able to see Mike was to represent himself as his attorney, although he was already working on a way to bypass the month long waiting list for Rachel.

The right side of Mike's face was an impressive shade of purple and blue, evidence of his first few encounters with Frank and his gang over the past week. Harvey cleared his throat as he looked at Mike, trying and failing to hide his reaction.

"Thought you could throw a punch," he attempted lamely, furrowing his brow as he studied Mike's battered face.

"Yea, well, hard to land a good hit when it's three-on-one," Mike shot back, his attempt at the normal back-and-forth with Harvey falling flat. This was no laughing matter, and the usual easy banter between them felt foreign and wrong inside the cold concrete walls.

"Mike," Harvey leaned across the table then, looking at him seriously, as Mike leaned forward as far as he could, his shackles creating a loud clang in the small room as they hit the metal table, "I'm doing everything I can to get Frank transferred out of here, I even made a call to Cahill, but it isn't going to happen overnight."

"Harvey, I get that," Mike tried to hide the desperation in his voice, failing miserably, "but you don't understand, I won't last another night in here! Frank has most of the guards in his pocket, and he has nothing to lose."

"Of course he does," Harvey gritted his teeth, looking at Mike with determination, "everyone does, and I'll find a way to use it against him."

"And even if you do that, it doesn't mean that he won't come after me again in the meantime," Mike replied quickly. "I'm basically a dead man walking in here. It's only a matter of time before he really makes a move, one that I'm not walking away from this time," he gestured at his bruised face, as far as his handcuffs would allow, to make his point.

"You just have to hang in there a little longer, Mike," Harvey hoped he sounded reassuring, but he barely believed his own words. Mike was right, Frank was dangerous, and angry with a vendetta, and he really didn't have anything that Harvey could barter with him over in exchange for leaving Mike alone...but if there was, Harvey was damn sure that he would find it and use it to keep Mike safe. "I'll take care of it."

Mike sighed, shaking his head in defeat. "Harvey, look, I know you're doing everything you can, but between this and what's going on at the firm..."

"You think I really give a damn about what happens to the firm when your life is in danger?" Harvey interrupted, his eyes flashing angrily. "I'm trying to keep you alive Mike, or have you not realized that's the priority here?"

"Look, Harvey, I appreciate that," Mike replied, trying to keep the frustration out of his voice, "but if you let the firm fail in the meantime, then what the hell did I put myself in here for?"

"To keep me out," Harvey bit out as he slumped back in his chair, but there was no heat behind his words this time, only guilt and remorse. "To keep me and the rest of us from sitting behind these bars with you."

He paused, letting out a deep breath before continuing, "Mike, it should be me in here, not you."

"Don't even start that with me again," Mike interjected firmly, "we've been over this a million times, this was _my_ crime in the first place, and I wasn't going to let you take the fall for it, no matter what, not even with what is going on now. I made my decision, and I've made my peace with it, and now you need to make yours." He paused, letting out a deep breath, before he added softly, "You have to stop blaming yourself Harvey."

Harvey swallowed thickly, unable to hide the guilt clearly etched on his face. "And if something happens to you in here, then how the hell can I not?"

Mike shrugged helplessly at that. He knew better than to offer Harvey false reassurances that he couldn't keep. "Look, I'm watching my back as much as I can..." He trailed off, not needing to finish his sentence. They both already knew.

"I know, it's not that simple," Harvey replied with a deep sigh. "But I swear to you Mike, I am doing everything I can to make sure you walk out of here in one piece."

"I know that, but," Mike hesitated, and Harvey already knew what the younger man was about to say before the words even left his mouth, "but look, just in case something happens to me..."

"Damn it Mike, you are not seriously going to do the 'if anything happens to me speech' are you?" Harvey cut him off, not sure if he could even handle hearing this speech from him, because if _something_ really did happen to Mike, Harvey would _never_ be able to stop blaming himself.

"Harvey, just listen," Mike implored him, and he realized just how serious he was, "please."

Harvey just nodded for him to continue, knowing now how important it was for him to say these words...just in case.

"Ok, well," Mike continued carefully, looking as though he was searching for the right words, "if anything does happen to me, promise me that you'll look out for Rachel..."

"Of course I would, Mike, you know that," Harvey replied seriously. It was the least he could do to look after his fiancé if Mike was killed in prison because of an old vendetta against him, even if Rachel had already told him in so many words how she would never forgive him if anything happened to Mike while in was in there.

Not that he blamed her. If anything happened to Mike, he would never forgive _himself_.

"That's not all," Mike added, waiting for Harvey to make eye contact with him again. "And you have to promise me you won't blame yourself for this."

Harvey looked at him skeptically. "And how do you suppose I do that when its my goddamn fault that you are in this mess in the first place?"

Mike shook his head at that. "Even if Frank is the reason I'm currently running for my life, that was completely out of your control. It's my own fault that I'm in here, not yours." Harvey opened his mouth to argue, but Mike swiftly held up one of his shackled hands to stop him. "Whatever you think, Harvey, I don't blame you, ok? No matter what happens."

"Yea, well, that's your opinion," Harvey grumbled back, but Mike just smirked at him, causing Harvey to smile back, and for just a moment, things almost felt normal between them, as if they were back at Pearson Specter Litt, and not inside the confines of Danbury Federal Penitentiary.

But reality of their situation quickly settled back in, and Harvey's smile fell as he looked at Mike seriously once again. "Mike, I swear to you, I'll find a way to fix this, as soon as I can."

Mike's serious gaze reflected his own, but Harvey could hear the unwavering faith in him as he replied.

"I know Harvey. Because if you don't...the only way I'm leaving this place is in a body bag."

TBC


	2. Chapter 2

**Wow! Thank you SO much to everyone who reviewed/followed/favorited this story, or heck even read it at all! I'm still building up my confidence writing in a new fandom and trying to get the characters down, so _every_ bit counts. Extra thanks to Sam, Guest, lorcheto, Zimdan19, Guest, and allen3smith for your encouraging reviews!**

 **Well, for this chapter, I apologize for the copious amounts of hurt with NO comfort for now. Basically this is an AU from episode 2, but I did put it some of the actual dialogue (since I'm a canon-compliant kind of girl..for the most part). This one is more Mike-centric but there will be lots of Harvey, Donna, Rachel, and the gang in the next chapter!**

 **Enjoy?**

 **Fictional**

* * *

Towards the end of his second week in Danbury, Mike was doing everything he possibly could to avoid another run-in with Frank, but found it literally impossible.

Frank was out for blood.

It didn't help that after Harvey had come to see him, Frank had _somehow_ been able to get under the lawyer's skin as he left the prison, and whatever was said between them had only made Gallo set his sights on him even _more_.

Mike knew that Harvey had been in touch with Cahill and was doing everything he possibly could to get either him or Gallo transferred somewhere else, but he had a sinking feeling it would be too little, too late. He just had to try and survive until that happened.

Mike figured his best strategy would be to stay within sights of the guards and the cameras at all times, so that Frank wouldn't have an opportunity to catch him in a place where he'd be an easy target.

Unfortunately, that ended up being his biggest mistake. Mike knew that Frank had a few of the guards on his side, but he hadn't realized just how _much_ pull he had within the prison.

"Hey, hey, I know you don't trust me, but look who's headed this way," his _real_ roommate, Kevin Miller, had frantically tried to warn him in the common room, but Mike knew better than to trust anyone now. Kevin had attempted to make amends with him for switching with Frank the first night, how he really didn't have a choice in the matter, but Mike wasn't ready to listen, and he wasn't going to listen now in case Kevin was trying to set him up. He blew him off, adding a final "leave me alone," to which Kevin nodded in defeat, quickly moving away as Frank and his goons approached Mike.

As Gallo threatened him, his men surrounding him in a threatening stance, Mike motioned with his head to the guards behind him, feeling some sense of security that nothing would happen within their vicinity. Instead, a feeling of ice cold dread crept down his spine at the knowing smirk that crossed Frank's face at that.

"You mean the guards that let me into your cell?"

Mike threw down his book and wheeled around, realizing that the guards once behind him were now conveniently gone, and the entire common area had cleared out, just as Kevin had warned him. He was now alone and completely surrounded by Frank and his men.

He should have listened.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait!" Mike started, trying to control the rising panic in his voice, "so that's it? You're going to let these guys kill me?

Frank chuckled hollowly at that. "Who said anything about killing you? We're just going to hurt you a little...or a lot."

Mike swiftly jumped up from his seat, racking his brain for a way to stall for more time. He went for the quickest defense he could think of, calling Frank's leadership abilities into question and daring the hardened criminal to take him on on his own. Frank paused, studying him, and for a brief moment Mike thought that he would actually just take him on one-on-one, and then maybe he _might_ stand a chance.

"Ok, tough guy."

But when Frank reached behind him and pulled out the long, sharp, handmade shiv, and his men grabbed his arms and roughly pulled him back, Mike knew it was all over.

He was a dead man.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he could hear Harvey's voice echoing " _When_ _there's_ _a_ _gun_ _to_ _your_ _head_ , _there's_ _146_ _other_ _things_..."

Mike knew he couldn't give up without a fight. He had to try, for Rachel, for Harvey, for Donna, hell even for Louis, for everyone he cared about, to try and make it out of this alive.

As Frank came furiously towards him, wielding the weapon in his hand, Mike did the only thing he could think of, and kicked out with both legs as the other thugs held tightly to his arms, striking Frank's hand with a sickening crunch and sending the shiv sliding across the floor.

Mike couldn't help but let out a triumph "ha!" as Gallo howled in pain, only to realize he was far from danger as one of Frank's goons sent a solid fist flying into his stomach, causing him to double over as the breath was knocked out of his lungs.

"You're going to pay for that, Ross," Frank growled out at him, clutching his injured hand to his chest. Eyes flashing furiously, he marched over and picked up the dropped shank with his remaining good hand, striding back over to Mike purposely. He continued struggling to break free, looking up as Gallo approached him once again, more cautiously than before.

"Is it worth it, Gallo?" Mike tried breathlessly, still trying to buy more time. "Even if you do this to me, you'll just end up with more time on your sentence, and we both know that what you really want is to get out of here. Why risk it?"

"Well, smart guy, I owe Harvey Specter A LOT, and this seems like a good way to settle the score," Frank replied, casually twirling the shiv in his other hand. "And I'll tell ya what kid, I'm not going to hurt you after all."

Mike looked back at him skeptically. There was no way Gallo was just going to let him go, not after all this. He was going to send a message to Harvey, one way or another.

"No," Frank looked at him again, a murderous look in his eyes, "I'm going to kill you."

Mike's eyes widened, and he fought as hard as he possibly could to break free from the two huge men still holding him. "No, no, Frank, wait!"

In desperation, Mike jerked his head forwards into the nose of one of the prisoners holding him captive, causing a sickening crunch as he broke his nose. The man barely stumbled back, but his grip on his arm slackened just a little. Mike wheeled, trying to pull his arm free and fight back in any way he possibly could, but it was too late. Gallo was already there, and Mike was outnumbered, and he had nowhere to go.

Without any hesitation, Frank jammed the shiv forward...directly into his stomach.

White-hot, blinding pain, like Mike had never experienced before, exploded throughout his entire body, and his vision went fuzzy as Frank violently twisted the sharpened blade in even deeper.

"Since you like your movie quotes so much," Frank whispered viciously in his ear, "then tell Harvey Specter that Frank Gallo sends his regards." Then he roughly pulled out the blade, causing Mike to slump forwards against the weight of the men holding him, no longer able to stand on his own.

With that, he stabbed Mike in the abdomen again, and Mike was unable to bite back the cry of pain this time. Blood was already pouring out of his wounds at an alarming rate, covering the front of his prison blues in a sickening shade of red and starting to pool at the floor by his feet.

Satisfied that Mike wasn't going to be able to walk away, Frank nodded shortly at his men then, and they carelessly let him go. Unable to support his own weight anymore, he crumpled in a heap on the floor with a dull thud, desperately still holding onto consciousness by sheer will.

"C'mon boys, let's get out of here," he distantly heard Gallo order his men, their footsteps quickly retreating as they cleared the room and left him for dead.

" _So this is how I'm going to die,"_ Mike's remaining consciousness told him, and his damn eidetic memory began unwillingly filling in the facts about blood loss and abdomen wounds and how little time he had left.

" _No...not like this,"_ he weakly shook his head, not quite ready to give up, although he already knew with utmost certainty that he was mortally wounded as his rapid-fire mind began calculating his odds of survival. But despite all that knowledge, he wasn't ready to quit without one last fight.

Summoning every ounce of will and determination he had left, Mike pushed himself up onto his shaking elbows, vaguely horrified that he was slipping in a pool of his own blood on the floor.

Unable to stifle another cry of anguish, he pulled himself across the floor a few inches, eyeing the doors in the back of the room through his narrowing tunnel vision. He just had to make it to those doors and try to call for help...

He pulled himself a few more inches, and then just a few more, desperately trying to reach the doors. But his body wasn't cooperating anymore, was already shutting down on him, and just a few feet from the door, he collapsed face down on the cold concrete, dark streaks of red following him in a trail across the floor.

The faces of everyone he cared about, everyone he had gone to prison for in order to protect, flashed before his eyes. _Rachel. Harvey. Donna. Louis. Jessica_.

Rachel would be beyond devastated, and he desperately hoped she would survive this, and Harvey...he would never forgive himself for this, no matter what he had promised Mike. This would destroy him.

Somehow through the haze, he heard someone calling his name in the distance, and was vaguely aware that someone was pulling him upwards now, tapping the side of his face and urgently talking to him, but it felt as if it was from the end of a long, dark tunnel, and he was moving rapidly to the other side.

"Mike! Look at me man, come on!" the voice of his cell mate, Kevin Miller, briefly registered in his mind, and he realized that Kevin was there with him now, yelling at him to hold on. "Mike, stay awake, I'm going to get help, ok? Damn it I told you to leave..."

Mike tried to respond, tried to force the words to come out, to tell Kevin his final words to Rachel, to Harvey...but he just couldn't hold on anymore.

The world faded away, and Mike briefly wondered why he wasn't more afraid now, and his last thoughts were that he hoped everyone he was leaving behind would be ok.

And then everything was black.

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

**Oh gosh am I SORRY for the delay on this! Not to make excuses...but in the middle of this chapter I moved, and then we didn't have internet, and yadda yadda (ok so I am making excuses now), but anyways my muse wandered away, my bad! I haven't even finished watching the first part of season 6 yet (shame shame I _know_ ), but now that the second half is on I thought I had better get back on this! I don't _love_ this chapter and I'm sorry for it's shortness...hopefully next chapter will have a little more to it!**

 **Honestly all of your awesome reviews are what got me back here...thanks SO much for all of the encouragement! Shout out to lorcheto, Guest, allen3smith, Guest, The Grandeurs of Despair, harvspecter, Lilynette, Guest, Dalamanza, heycarmichael, Scout, Guest, Guest, Guest, Guest, and nikki.m2301 for your support! You all deserve your own personal Mike and Harvey.**

 **Cheers!**

 **Fictional**

* * *

"Thank you again, Mr. Feinberg. You won't regret keeping your business with Pearson Specter Litt."

After she hung up the phone on her client, Rachel let out a deep sigh. She was completely exhausted. Between keeping up with law school, doing everything in her power to help keep the firm afloat, and worrying about Mike, she felt like she was drowning.

Mike hadn't even been gone two weeks yet and she hadn't figured out how to stop worrying that he would never walk out of prison in one piece...or what he might even be like when he finally did.

Prison changed people.

With a deep exhale, she picked up an arm full of books from her office desk, swallowing thickly to push down a sudden wave of nausea as she straightened back up. She had been almost constantly nauseous since Mike went away, and she could only chalk it up to the stress of him being gone in conjunction with everything else that was currently happening in her chaotic life. She closed her eyes, taking in a few deep breaths until the nausea finally passed.

Looking at the time then and swearing under her breath, not wanting to be late for yet another class, she grabbed her purse and started heading out the door when her office phone started shrilly ringing again. She paused in the doorway, looking back at it resentfully, before deciding that she had promised to give her all along with Harvey and the rest of them in order to keep the firm alive. With an audible groan of frustration, Rachel wheeled around and ran back to the phone, heavy books still in hand, to see if another client was on the line.

"Hello, this is Rachel Zane, how can I help you?" she answered breathlessly, completely unprepared for who was on the other end.

" _Hello, Ms. Zane, this is Officer Daniels from Danbury Federal Penitentiary,_ " a deep male voice replied across the line, and Rachel's heart immediately dropped to the floor. There could be no good reason that one of the officers from the prison was calling her instead of Mike himself.

"...yes," she finally remembered to speak when the officer asked if she was still there.

 _"You are listed as the emergency contact for prisoner Michael James..."_

"Yes, he's my fiancé," Rachel cut him off, her heart beating frantically now. "What happened? Is he ok? Where is..."

 _"I'm sorry to inform you Ms. Zane, that Mr. Ross has been in an altercation here at the prison, and he was taken to our infirmary for treatment of his injuries_ ," the officer continued, and Rachel forgot how to breathe for a moment.

"Injured how? Is he ok? What happened to Mike?!" she demanded, her fear building into anger now, anger at the officer for not telling her more, anger that Mike was hurt, anger that he was even in prison in the first place.

It shouldn't have been him, anyone but him...

 _"I'm sorry ma'am, but I'm not authorized to give out that information,"_ the officer replied matter-of-factly _, "but I am calling to inform you that unfortunately his injuries are too severe for our on-site physician to treat, and we are sending him out to St. Joseph's Hospital now."_

"Oh my God," Rachel breathed, her mind filling with a thousand different horrifying scenarios of Mike broken, bleeding, dying all alone in that God-forsaken place...

Then her anger, her protectiveness of Mike took over, and she demanded answers into the phone.

"God damn it, tell me what happened to Mike!" She shouted furiously into the phone, hoping she sounded more brave and ferocious than she currently felt. "He is my fiancé, and so help me if you don't tell me what happened to him, I, along with every other attorney here at Pearson Specter Litt, will personally make sure that you are assigned desk duty for the rest of your god damn career! Now tell me what's going on!"

" _I'm sorry, Ms. Zane, I really am_ ," the officer said patiently, almost with a hint of sympathy that infuriated Rachel even more, " _but_ _you threatening me isn't going to help the situation. I am not allowed to divulge that information over the phone. You'll need to contact his treating physician at the hospital. The warden can give a full report to you and Mr. Ross' attorney at a later date."_

Realizing her threats were idle and her demands were getting nowhere, she tried a different tactic, still desperate for answers about the fate of the man she loved.

"Please tell me," she replied brokenly, pleading with the officer. " _Please_. All I have done since Mike went away is lie awake every night, wondering if he is ok in there, if he's eating, how's he sleeping, if he's even safe ...and now here you are, calling me and telling me my _worst_ fears have come true. Please, Officer Daniels...I just need to know if he is going to be ok. I'm begging you here, with everything I have...just tell me."

The officer let out a deep sigh across the phone, and Rachel knew she had him then. What she wasn't expecting was what he said next.

 _"It appears that Mike Ross has sustained multiple stab wounds to the abdomen, and he's being transferred to St. Joseph's in critical condition. I'm sorry Ms. Zane..."_

Rachel didn't even hear the rest of what he said as everything suddenly became white noise around her, the world tilting dangerously to the side. She dropped the phone with a thud, her books tumbling into a careless heap on the floor as her life shattered into a million pieces.

* * *

"When will he learn," Donna muttered to herself with a smirk as Louis slinked away from her desk, realizing too little, too late his folly in not waiting for her expert help to hire tenants for the vacant offices, and now he was stuck with the obnoxious traders destroying the sanctity of his precious bullpen.

A moment later, her phone rang and brought her back to reality. Luckily, it was Sean Cahill finally calling Harvey back. She immediately transferred him to Harvey's phone, hoping that Cahill had a solution to get either Gallo or Mike transferred out of Danbury.

Although she intended to accidentally listen to Harvey's conversation so she knew exactly what was going on, something in her gut suddenly told her to go check on Rachel. Not one to ever ignore her woman's intuition, Donna stood up from her desk, casually smoothed her dress, and walked purposefully back to Rachel's office.

She was completely unprepared for what she found.

As she neared the glass door, she realized she couldn't see Rachel, but she knew she hadn't left for class yet (late again), and as she drew closer she could see Rachel's phone dangling off the hook and her books scattered wildly across the office floor.

Donna tried to ignore the growing pit of dread in her stomach that something was really, _really_ wrong. She rushed into Rachel's office, gasping when she finally spotted her on her hands and knees behind her desk, shaking and clutching her stomach, looking completely and utterly lost.

"Oh my God, Rachel!" Donna rushed to her best friend and dropped to her knees next to her, reaching out a hand to steady her. "Rachel, what's going on? Talk to me!"

Rachel shook her head then, as if she was just hearing Donna for the first time, and she looked back at her with a pained, tear-filled gaze, not saying anything for several seconds.

"...it's Mike," she finally choked out, and Donna felt her heart clench painfully at that.

"Mike? What happened to Mike?" Donna tried to keep her focused, shaking Rachel gently to make her look at her again. "What's going on?!"

Rachel shook her head again, desperately fighting back tears as she struggled to find the words, urgency evident in her tone. "Donna...we have to go...St. Joseph's..." She grasped Donna's arm with surprising strength, as if trying to anchor herself.

"St. Joseph's?" Donna asked in confusion, still trying to piece together what had happened and fearing the worst, hoping desperately that her fears were wrong.

But unfortunately, Donna was never wrong.

She squeezed Rachel's arm again, trying to get her to focus before she dared to ask.

"Rachel...is Mike ok?"

She just shook her head hopelessly, squeezing her eyes shut as a single tear escaped and rolled down her cheek, and Donna's heart sank.

She had to tell Harvey.

* * *

"Damn it Sean, he's never going to go for that," Harvey growled into the phone in frustration. Cahill's suggestion of getting Mike to turn on his cell mate was a useless one, because Mike was loyal to a fault.

That's exactly why Mike was currently in prison instead of him.

Harvey didn't get a chance to hear Cahill's reply because he noticed Donna enter his office then from the corner of his eye. Harvey shook his head to indicate to her not to interrupt unless it was life or death, because she knew how long he had been waiting for Cahill to call back. But when he finally looked up at her still standing there, he realized that she was there for a reason...and it wasn't good.

The last time she came into his office with that look on her face...his father had died.

Harvey felt like all the wind had been suddenly knocked out of him. "Listen, Sean, something has come up. I'll call you back," he hung up, not even waiting for Sean's reply.

Harvey stood up as Donna approached, unconsciously gripping the side of his desk to ground himself for what was coming.

"What is it?" he heard himself say hoarsely, the blood already rushing to his ears.

"Harvey," Donna took a deep breath, wringing her hands and looking as though she couldn't quite make herself say the words.

"Donna," Harvey couldn't even hide the desperation in his voice now, and he didn't even bother to. He already knew what she was going to tell him. The look on her face said it all. "Just tell me."

"I'm so sorry Harvey," Donna shook her head, unable to stop the tears springing to her eyes.

"It's Mike."

Harvey's world came to a stop.

* * *

 **TBC**


End file.
